Drabble Dare #4- RESULTS

Drabble Dare #4- RESULTS


Journey to the Edge of the Map
by Joris Ammerlaan

It was my task to select an image for the weekly Drabble Dare. Easy, right? But I'm not much of an art person, and a particularly poor critic when it comes to things like color, shading, and facial expression.

Lucky for me, we can always plunder the prolific work of Joris. I popped over to his Facebook page and easily found something I liked.

The vessel (I'm going to call it a great galleon) is portrayed with large sails against a backdrop of a world map. I notice that the exaggerated sail size gives them proportions similar to the global map features; this congruency is further enhanced by the by the angular, criss-crossing map lines which make the continents themselves similar to the overlapping sails.

A simple "interpretation", then, is that the sails and map lines have complementary features because both provide the same benefit to the intrepid sailors: They make exploration possible.

Now let's consider the ship. It's comparatively small, and an actual ship is but a miniscule speck on the actual planet. But our attention is drawn to its connection with the sailcloth by way of the exaggerated boom (aft sprit?) at the stern. So the ship is part of the sails (and visa versa), which also makes the ship part of the massive, unexplored world on a scale that cannot be explained by its meager size. Thus I see this painting as very optimistic: The unknown peril implied by the title ("edge of the map") can be embraced with confidence thanks to the rational sciences of navigation and shipbuilding.

But enough of that. The Burrow wishes to thank everyone for their submissions, and with further ado, the Drabble Dare winner is:

Jan Morrison

And here is the winning drabble:

Why are you crying, boy?
I’ve never been to sea before. I’m scared.
Scared – of what?
The dragons and such-like at the edge of the world.
Ah.
Have you seen ‘em?
No. Come, sit by me. I’ll give you a bit of biscuit and tell you something.
What?
The dragons and monsters aren’t at the edge of the world.
They aren’t?
No, they’re at the edge of the map which we’ll never see.
Never?
Never. There’s some to fear but not sea monsters. I’ll keep an eye on you..
You’re a good man, Cook.
Eat up, the sails are hoisted.


CONGRATULATIONS, Jan!
Excellent job of capturing the spirit of the image. The danger, curiosity, and confidence were all there, encapsulated in two original characters and their natural dialogue. And all in merely a hundred words, too!

Tune in tomorrow for the new Drabble Dare challenge.